Fed: Herron begins production this weekend

AAP General News (Australia)
04-04-2000
Fed: Herron begins production this weekend

By Debra Nowland

BRISBANE, April 4 AAP - Herron Pharmaceuticals will resume production this weekend
after last month's strychnine poisoning of a doctor and his teenage son forced a nationwide
recall of its paracetamol products.

But Herron chief executive officer Euan Murdoch said it would be more than a month
before its paracetamol tabsules would find their way onto Australian supermarket shelves.

"We'll be going back in new tamper evident packaging, with new differentiated packs
and that will happen around mid-May," Mr Murdoch told a news conference at Queensland
Police Headquarters in Brisbane today.

He said the new Herron paracetamol tabsules would use Australian first "super seals"

which would make them the most tamper-proof in the marketplace.

The company has been given the green light to resume production by a taskforce containing
representatives from police, Queensland Health and the Therapeutic Goods Administration,
which was set up to oversee the product recall.

But Mr Murdoch indicated it could be months before other products including paracetamol
in capsule and tablet form would return to the market place.

Herron recalled paracetamol products last month after an extortionist laced headache
pills with the poison, strychnine.

Mr Murdoch said the extortion crisis had cost Herron millions of dollars which had
been "catastrophic" for the family-owned, Brisbane-based company.

"The judge and jury in this is our consumer and we have had overwhelming support from
our consumers ... Herron is a victim in this," Mr Murdoch said.

The extortionist still remains at large but the Herron chief executive officer was
confident that there would be no further threats made against the company.

All stock recalled, including Herron paracetamol finished products, bulk tablets and
capsules and their packaging is expected to be destroyed later this month.

AAP dn/sc/arb/bwl

KEYWORD: HERRON LEAD

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